A Confidential Argument
by Rhady
Summary: The year is 1918 and Belgium is tired, with no hope for a quick end she breaks the last rule of war: the other side is the enemy.
1. A Confidential Argument

Spring is the most lovely period of the year: the sun shines the blossoms bloom and spread their delicate and distinguished odours in the air. The sleepy bees remain in the nest, only a few of their dreamy sisters zoom around and are attracted by orchestra of smells, but by 1918 the perception of this annual, natural resurrection had changed drastically! The commoners and officers alike dreaded this period more than any other: the relative rest of the winter would be ripped apart by a renewed wave of attacks and counter strikes, just like the year before and the year before all back to that summer in 1914, for years of death and starvation in a new kind of war: the industrial attrition war. Like many of his people the German Empire had grown to hate this time of the year: he hated the deadly dance of nations more then he hated the enemy, yet this year a new wave of optimism had hit the German shores: peace with Russia! Germany felt that he deserved some celebratory rest in his manor near Vienna, where he could sit in the quiet loneliness of his spring garden, seated in a comfortable chair and scanning the printed word of any newspaper he could lay hands upon for irregularities and peculiar spellings.

Two pairs of walking feet disturbed his quiet rest. One, the heavier regular pace he recognized immediately: his loyal valet Mr Rädler, who had served him for about twenty years already. The second pair was different, lighter and definitely feminine, but with a strange masculine undertone, it was like this woman had put on her husband's boots for the day. The woman had the pace of an old woman or tired young person who did her best to remain upright. As the sound neared through the summerhouse Germany decided that whomever it would turn out to be he would send the wrongly shoed woman out as quickly as time would allow him.

"_Das Königreich Belgien, mein herr_," Mr Rädler said and cleared the way for the woman. Germany was startled, of all people he had not expected her! Germany observed the unexpected and rather unusual appearance of his newly arrived guest: she wore a heavy, but neat, khaki uniform that reminded him of England's, yet she had tried, probably only for this voyage, to add something feminine to it, and she had been successful: had it not been for the few medals, the four standard pockets at the front of the jacket and the overall texture and colour of the cloth this particular colonel might have been mistaken for a lady.

"I do wish he would say '_die_'," Belgium spoke, clearly showing her annoyance while tilting her head shortly and surprisingly lady-like (at least as far as such a stir could be considered lady-like) in the valet's direction.

"He probably doesn't like you," Germany replied and greeted her by standing up, "please." Both sat down. He grinned a little.

"What?" she snapped, unhappily surprised at his sudden glee.

"I just remembered how well I know English," the Empire replied. She frowned. He saw she didn't understand: "I mean that _die _in English refers to a certain verb." She the grooves on her forehead grew deeper in understanding and she replied: "I do hope that this conversation will not continue on this track of selective translation, because I daresay the engine will soon fail, besides, the English _die _is pronounced completely different from the German _die_."

Germany decided to change the topic: "May one inquire to the cause of this rather unexpected visit?" He paused, yet she remained silent. "We are in a state of war, and last time I checked Austria-Hungary is also at war with you."

"Your informative is correct," Belgium replied, "if you know that simple truth then you will also another."

"And this other is your _raison d'être ici_?"

"Indeed, it is."

Germany paused and laid his chin on his folded hands and stared at her slender gloved hands that rested on the table. Then his eyes wandered from her hands, the hints of her breasts, her thin neck and finally her face: make up covered some scarring on her left cheek, but further it was immaculate. She had only sought to accentuate the prettiest parts of her face and hide the ugly parts. She wasn't a stunning beauty, but she wore her moderate prettiness with dignity and, perhaps, a little pride.

"Austria", he began, "is under a lot of pressure: his troops have not done as well as mine and he has lost many. The war has cost him more than any could have anticipated and this strains his marriage with Hungary."

"There is war-weariness in his heart," she mused, producing a faint smile.

"So are you alone then?" he asked.

"A lady never ought to travel alone," she stated matter of factly.

"That's not what I meant," Germany retorted, "is France with you, or England?" Belgium remained silent. He was genuinely surprised: "Dear me, you are trying to reach a separate peace trough Austria!"

"Why does that surprise you?" she asked.

"It doesn't," he lied, "I was merely surprised that you came to me, I'm not Austria."

"Unless," she hinted.

"Unless you've already been at Austria's and you pay me a visit to soften me up," he declared. She gave him a half smile.

" Indeed", she replied, "we're all under heavy pressure, don't you think there has already been enough suffering? My demands are not high," she argued, while toying with her French Legion d'Honneur medal that hung on a delicate collar.

"Mr Rädler, bring us some of that orange juice the cook prepared this morning, please, our guest is thirsty." The valet left the garden in a hurry, returning to the manor.

"No high demands, Belgium?" he replied in an almost whisper, "There are only two things you can want: an evacuation of your territory and a formal and factual recognition of your perpetual neutrality!"

"I don't see why it would be impossible, I could set an example for the others, I'm sure it would soften France up," Belgium replied, "and England would lose the moral high ground to fight on."

"Why on earth would I accept? I have the military advantage since I knocked Russia out of the war," Germany said, "Russia is neutral and evacuated but it didn't soften up France, it didn't often anyone at all!"

"With all due respect to your military capabilities, but Russia knocked himself out of the war by starting a revolution and overthrowing his democratic government, so evidently France wouldn't be impressed," she countered him.

"You talk of peace while all these victorious, fresh troops, hardened by battle and tribulations can give me a total victory."

"It didn't work in '14, '15, '16 and '17, why do you think 1918 will be different? If we continue to butcher our young men, we'll run out! Will you meet the others face to face before or after drafting all the rats of Germany and train them to attack France?" Belgium was quickly losing her temper, she begun gesticulating strongly and almost knocked the platter on which Mr Rädler carried the juice on the floor, but she paid no attention and stared angrily at Germany.

"Now you're being ridiculous, drafting rats, please! Things have changed between then and now, it is true that many died, but our tactics adapted, we have left the 19th century: I know how to deal with trenches now." Germany said, keeping his cool, he didn't like to be shouted at, especially not by a woman, but he reasoned that one of them ought to give the good example.

"This war needs to be over soon," Belgium began, trying to control her emotions now Mr Rädler was back, but her shaking hands told Germany she was failing, "and it would be better for Europe: this war must end with no victors and no future grudges, so we all can meet a new era of peace and prosperity! People call it the war to end all wars, well it should become the truth, I know Austria agrees with me."

"Be assured Belgium, the war will be over when I have won it and soon we can discuss anything you want."

"And you will handpick whatever resolution you want and make us all sign it, humiliating France and England and killing me," Belgium replied grimly.

"I have no intention to kill you but I don't want you to meddle in my affairs in the long run." Germany said benignantly.

"How so? Flamenpolitik? My dissolution last year? A Dutch speaking university in Ghent nobody wanted?"

"There is nothing that can't be undone, dear, but I daresay everybody wanted Ghent," Germany replied, his tone now approaching a vicious kindness.

"They want it from ME, because I am their nation! They might be Flemings or Walloon on the exterior, but they're still Belgian in their hearths."

Germany smiled, but said nothing.

"I want them to have it and gladly, but I'm not the government!" Belgium snapped, again losing her temper, her left hand now shaking considerably faster than her right hand, "You know perfectly well how little influence we have." Germany nodded.

"Back in the day," he began, "when the kings had the power, we had an important role to play."

"That's what everybody says, but have you ever seen a picture of a one of our predecessors? Did we even have any? Why are our memories of before blurred, can you remember the day you were born?"

"Nobody can remember that, you should know this part of human psychology, Belgium."

"Before the war I would have let that to you and upper-class ladies with nothing to do then sitting in their mansions and think how lovely the weather is and how pale their skin has become, but now I just don't care."

"I will take that as a compliment to my wealth and accomplishments," Germany smiled.

Belgium waved his insult away and continued: "My point is that we are a product of nationalism, whoever was before us, they vanished for a reason and those who did survive have forgotten everything and are as dependent on history books as any mortal human!"

They both fell silent and stared in different directions, an uncomfortable feeling overwhelmed both nations while Belgium's words sank in. After a few minutes Germany broke the uneasy silence: "Once we will discover if we are or aren't as permanent of immortal as we believe we are, no war will change that."

"But we're in a desperate position, Germany, this is not a crossroad, this is a collapsing cliff, beneath us is the sea and there's only one ship and all of us need to get in! It's not a leap of faith, but plain suicide: we can't go in holding grunges: there is no room, no private space! We can't lash out again, not with the means we have now and that will only get worse!" Belgium was now almost on the verge of tears: "there may not be another war or it will destroy us, once we can break through trenches, we can circumvent them all together! Zeppelins bombed Liège, Antwerp and London, what will happen when other, faster flying machines can carry bombs?"

"You don't understand: there must be one ruler in Europe, it's what this war is about now: one ruler, one powerful nation that can regulate the others and solve problems peacefully or enforce them by force. One nation that will be the voice of Europe," Germany paused and looked at his small adversary, "A hierarchy, Belgium, is, has and always will be a vitality, in the army, in all cities and all empires! There must always be someone second to God," Germany explained, getting up. He hadn't even touched his glass of juice. Belgium quickly stood up too. Germany motioned to the entrance of the summer house.

"And you want to be that leader and stand on the same rung as the pope?" Belgium asked facing him. He only nodded. "Whatever the cost?" He nodded again and motioned her to continue walking, they crossed the sunlit summerhouse and moved towards the manor.

"You can now, I hope, understand that I will not try to influence my emperor to even consider the idea of a premature peace. It's nonsensical, England and France understand this and will agree with me: to determine the victor the fight must go on, didn't Athens defeat Persia and Sparta for supremacy over Greece?"

"Sparta and Athens fought each other into oblivion and left the stage free for Thebes," Belgium replied. Germany didn't reply.

"And Austria," she continued, "he is a great power, is he not? And he agrees with me!"

Germany waited and slowly began replying, carefully weighting his words: "Austria… well… he is like Russia I'm afraid: a giant of the past, waiting and fighting for a salvation. I believe his salvation will lie in my victory and therefore I do not endorse a separate peace."

"You can't deny that the power blocks didn't work: Bismarck was wrong!"

"Belgium," Germany explained, "the power blocks are indeed the reason why we are at war and also why we are fighting for supremacy: the blocks were equals, therefore equality is not the solution." Belgium remained silent. Germany saw her sad face and continued: "Everybody wants the war to end, there is no doubt, but please do understand that what you and Austria want to propose cannot work in the long run! I am fighting for peace as much as you are, but my mind is not fogged by sadness about my people or my home, I have to think clearly and foresee the future!"

"You have no idea what I'm going through," Belgium fought a lost battle against her tears, "no-one knows what it is to be in my shoes: I'm surrounded, I'm occupied and I'm on my own! When I'm in England I get mud thrown at me, when I'm with France I can see in his eyes he wants to use me as cannon fodder! The war must end! It must end now! But I'm tired, I'm so tired!"

Germany stopped dead next to the troubled woman. Before the war he would have hugged her if she had ever been like this, but now he couldn't even look at her. _So, this is how people feel when they break up, _he thought. They had never been in a relationship and contrary to popular belief nations weren't allowed such worldly pleasures. He was not even sure if they could love in a romantic sense, he had never felt the feeling anyway. But they could feel friendship, and God, what a friendship they had shared! How hard had it been at first, but now, what matters? Coal is coal and iron is iron, no matter where it comes from, let it be a Belgian mine or a torn down Belgian factory or a German mine or German factory: it's lifeless and doesn't change or judge.

They walked on in silence, they crossed the library, then the hall, carefully retracing her steps, at the vestibule the butler handed her her coat and umbrella.

"Good bye, German Empire," she said, while walking, he noticed, she had cried.

"Good bye, Kingdom of Belgium," he replied, "this war will be over soon, don't be afraid when it is." Belgium didn't reply and stepped in the waiting car without looking back.

($)

_The second chapter is not a story, but notes which I consider it to be of equal value as the story itself, in here there are explanations for about everything that might be unclear._


	2. Accompanying notitions

Notes on the story:

This story is riddled with history and some, perhaps far sought jokes and because not everybody can look into my mind, I'll list most of them here:

"_And this other is your raison d'être ici?"_ Germany makes an allusion to the famous French phrase raison d'être, which means reason of existence and by adding the ici (here) the meaning shifts to reason of (your) presence. One could say he's questioning her existence, because normally nations under such pressure as Belgium were expected to surrender to the aggressor. Of course the situation the fighting nations found themselves in was completely new.

"_The war has cost him more than any could have anticipated and this strains his marriage with Hungary."_ This is the core of the story, Austria-Hungary and Belgium are both acting selfishly on grounds of self-preservation and found unlikely allies in each other, talks between the two states actually did take place, albeit secretly. It came out and this strained Belgo-French and Belgo-English relations and is one of the aspects why the Versailles Treaty proved to be a great disappointment for Belgium.

"_her French Legion d'Honneur medal."_ This medal was actually awarded to the city of Liège because of it heroic defence in 1914. The Siege of Liège was the first major battle of the war and during which the first aerial attack happened, which was indeed dropping bombs from a Zeppelin as is mentioned later. It might strike some people as odd that she's wearing it and a uniform. Belgium is dressed like that to make an impression and to look more important. It doesn't fool Germany tough.

"_I'm sure it would soften France up"_ Belgium is sure because an evacuation would cause a large portion of the German lines in France to be abandoned because they can't be supplied anymore. It is not mentioned because Belgium doesn't want to, it would do her argument no good and Germany doesn't because he wants to steer the argument towards a theoretical approach.

"_England would lose the moral high ground"_ In this story Belgium clearly makes an attempt to blackmail England into a status quo ante bellum (peace without changes) by using the 'Brave Little Belgium' propaganda myth. Although loads of horrible things did happen in Belgium and northern France in 1914, England inflated it through a very efficient campaign.

"_Russia knocked himself out of the war by starting a revolution and overthrowing his democratic government"_ This is of course a allusion on the October Revolution in 1917 and the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk of 3rd March 1918, this story takes place between the treaty and the very successful German Spring Offensive which begun on March the 21st

"_Flamenpolitik? My dissolution last year? A Dutch speaking university in Ghent" _The Flamenpolitik was a policy to 'emancipate' the Flemish and pull them out of the Belgian nation, although most Flemish didn't want to have anything to do with it a small group of Flemish would work with the Germans. After the war this involvement caused the Flemish Movement to be associated with collaboration and it caused a setback for everything pro-Flemish, it was even frowned upon if one spoke proper Dutch in pubic (the Flemish dialects being the tongue of the people, not of the political and cultural still rather elitist Flemish Movement).

In 1917 Flanders was declared independent (and so was Wallonia) although no-one but the Flemish government back the accepted or recognized it. The Walloon government never really kicked off, because there were no volunteers to rule.

The University of Ghent was state run and had only one language: French, although the Flemish movement was quite strong there. After the war the German founded university was shut down. Years later a compromise was reached to create a bilingual university in which part of the courses would be in Dutch. This gave no satisfaction at all and would eventually lead to the disappearance of French. Oddly enough the system that was introduced then is now experimented with in so called 'Immersieonderwijs' studies have shown that pupils who are taught in two different languages get higher marks in languages, but also science and mathematics.

"_They might be Flemings or Walloon on the exterior, but they're still Belgian in their hearths."_ An idea that was shared by many, but not all people in the Flemish movement, Flemish soldiers in the prisoner of War Camps were often outraged about what happened in Flanders.

"_that to you and upper-class ladies"_ during the 19th century the Germans were on the forefront of the Human sciences and people like Freud made psychoanalysis and more general psychology popular at home.

"_I will take that as a compliment to my wealth and accomplishments,"_ Back in the day it were only wealthy people who could afford to do nothing but study. Although it's something quite normal to say in these circumstances it's clearly an insult directed at Belgium.

"_flying machines"_ the word aircraft has existed since 1840, but in 1918 it still only referred crafts like to balloons and zeppelins.

"_we are or aren't as permanent of immortal as we believe we are"_ much like expressed in art forms like Dadaism the identity of the nation was under pressure, people had begun to see the nation as something permanent, confronted by a radical new world old values are more easily toppled over. They would not fall, however, until after WWII, when post-modernism gained ground.

"_A hierarchy, Belgium, is, has and always will be a vitality, in the army, in all cities and all empires!"_ Germany is a nation notorious for its strict sense of hierarchy, it's not surprising he defines the world as being a hierarchy and as a young and ambitious nation he feels he ought to be at the top. Belgium as a small nation wants to make sure no-one will trample her, in a hierarchy she will be at the bottom. There was no problem when she could trust her neutrality, which put her away from the system (two boats if you like), but since she can't, she wants a union of equal, which translated itself in a keen interest in unifying factors, like the League of Nations (which she left because it didn't want to do anything and the European Union.

"_Bismarck was wrong!"_ The German Iron chancellor build the first power block with the Emperors of Europe (Russia, Austria and Germany), later Russia would be excluded and a new block was formed on the basis of the previous one, including Italy. The first block falling apart gave France the chance to break out of the diplomatic isolation it had been in since 1870 and form another power block with England, itself and Russia.

"_England" _in those days saying England instead of Britain was normal, in Edinburgh I believe there was a course English History, which taught the history of Britain.

"_I'm surrounded, I'm occupied and I'm on my own."_ Belgium feels surrounded because British troops had taken up position at the coast, relieving the French (although they were unwilling to leave), now they were on both sides: England clearly wanted the Belgian army under its influence. But King Albert I did not want that to happen, to be able to refuse to launch attacks with the first wave he kept his army relatively weak and was he was reluctant draft Belgians in France and Britain, which were many and to draft Congolese reserves (by saying that it was not an African war, besides there was a war in Africa, the same one, it is known, however, that two Congolese were at the Western front in the Belgian army, one of which was captured and was sent to Berlin to be 'examined' by ethnologists, he is the only Belgian soldier of whom there exists a recording of the voice)

She is occupied by obvious reasons.

You can imagine that she feels quite alone, Albert I refused to attack (although he promised to attack if the French or British broke through), thinking the enemy fortifications to be too strong.

"_There must always be someone second to God,"_ secularization has never been a linear process, before WWI many intellectuals embraced God again because they needed spiritual guidance next to the cold search of facts.

But they could feel friendship I'm just against stupid and random shipping, therefore I decided to cut romantic love out.

This story tackles with a series of problems that buggered me, the most important one being: historical knowledge would be far more expanded in this universe and static, while it is so dynamic in ours, they were unable to be reconciled, because the first universe depends on the second, therefore I just made them forget.


End file.
